Out of the Gate and into the Renaissance Fair

[Corporal Light]

Two hours later

"For god's sake, this road goes on for an ETERNITY," Ballad whines, trudging along the dirt road. He had traversed his way out of the forest a long time ago, and had been walking along the road for what felt like ages. He hadn't found anything for literally two hours. It was just him, the road, and the open, barren fields to his left and right. It was almost like the white realm, only here the color spectrum was at least a bit more forgiving with what colors he was seeing. And he wasn't getting shot at, which was another positive.

Ballad raises his left hand up to his head, holding it out in front of him as the suns rays glared into his eyeballs. Annoyed, he begins to start complaining about the sun "Seriously?! This is the fifth time I've had to deal with the sun flashing in my eyes! Can't it just go down already? Back at home, we didn't have to deal with the sun constantly breathing down our necks. Or the sun making me hotter than fire." Ballad lets out a groan of disapproval as he slides his right hand to the neck of his coat, looking downwards into his coat. His white sweater underneath the coat appeared to be getting caked with sweat. How long had he been walking out here in the sun? An hour or so?

Sighing, he slides his right hand back into his pocket. He decided to just keep walking and hope to find a tree or something to sit under until the sun stopped being an asshole. Which wouldn't be for at least a few more hours, but Ballad didn't have the experience to figure that out for himself. He continues walking, taking out his canteen to get a gulp of water so he didn't dehydrate.

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Ten minutes later

"For fuck's sake... why is.. there nothing out here..?" At this point, Ballad was getting to his limit of how much he was willing to deal with. This sun was just not coming down, and his canteen was already half full. "If this keeps up, I'm going to have to make a goddamn hut out of this omnillium stuff that is covered in ice that blows wind everywhere. Just so I can cool down out here in this barren wasteland.." Capping his canteen back up, he parts his coat, attaching the canteen to the inside of his belt as he continues walking along.

A few more minutes pass, and just when Ballad is starting to think it would be a good time to just rest up alongside the road, he notices something along the horizon as he walks up a small hill. He couldn't quite make it out, but it appeared to be a mountain, judging from the black shape his eyes were picking up. However, a lot closer to him, and thus easier to see, was what appeared to be a small village. It had several buildings, most with brown, wooden roof-tops, though other specifics couldn't really be identified at his distance. What he could say for certain, though, is that the village, from his perspective, wasn't that far ahead. Couldn't take any more than three minutes to get there, even if he did walk. Smiling to himself, he says "Well.. this day is looking up, isn't it?" before walking down the hill and towards the village.

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"This place is jam-packed!" said Ballad, having just walked through the gate leading into the village. The two guards posted there gave him a good stare as he walked through, and he couldn't recall if their reactions to letting him in were delayed intentionally, but at this point he didn't care. He was just glad there was some change of scenery.

Looking around the village, he could finally get some specifics out of the place. It appeared to have a huge population, or as huge as a village could get, considering everywhere he turned there was a huge crowd of people swarming out of buildings. The buildings themselves were mostly made of wood for the walls, which appeared to be painted white in some cases. Some had windows, others had signs detailing them as stores of some kind (Ballad once passed a building with a hanging sign out in the middle of the street. It had a variety of what could be best described as strange shapes, with the words "Food" underneath them. Ballad simply shook his head, clearly doubting that particular label.) All of them had a cobblestone finish on the bottom of the foundation of the buildings. Ballad couldn't tell if this village was brand new, or if it had been renovated at least a few times. Back at the world of eternal winter, one could tell pretty easily, because most towns that were new often didn't have rusted metal in the walls of their buildings. That, and the fact that some older towns were simply abandoned as time went on. Even we, one of the most adaptable and lucky species on that world, couldn't withstand constant blizzards forever.

"I have to say, though... this is rather impressive.." Ballad says to himself, obviously in awe of the sight. Most of the villages and shantytowns in the world of eternal winter were rarely bustling with activity such as this. This new sight was obviously astounding to someone like Ballad, who had lived all his life in the relative comfort of loneliness. As he keeps walking, his thoughts keep getting relayed through his mouth, drawing attention from some. People around him frowned, whispered to their friends, among other things that, to normal people, who make them feel unwelcome. However, Ballad hardly seemed to notice, apparently wanting to take in the sight of the place.

Eventually, after about a two minute walk, he found himself back to where he started. It was here that the situation dawned on him and brought him back to reality. Him walking around like a loon was certainly drawing attention, especially since he didn't seem to have a clear path until right now. Sighing, he looked back up into the sky, seeing the sun still beating down from up above.

"Well.. might as well rest at some place here..." Ballad says before walking forward, hardly caring that he was walking into a crowd of people. Pushing and shoving along with the rest of the crowd, his eyes become drawn to a nearby sign. It had a mug full of what looked to be a golden beverage within it, and even if that didn't clue him in, the drunken people walking out of the establishment did. "That looks like a good place," Ballad says as he pushes himself through to the bar. As he walks up to the door, he makes a double-take as a drunken man stumbles out of the door, saying "Holy shi- watch it!" to him in an annoyed tone of voice. Ballad didn't get to see or hear anyone else's reaction to this as he walks inside.

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The bar itself, just like the village, appeared to be packed. What appeared to be dozens of men were sitting around on bar stools, on chairs next to bar tables, and some were just leaning against the walls of the establishment. Some were talking, others were drinking to their hearts content, while others were so piss drunk it's a wonder how they hadn't passed out yet. Ballad stands in the entrance for a few moments, seemingly stunned by just how many people could be in one place. Fucking terrifying how many people can be in one place.

Looking towards the front of the bar, he could see a bar counter with several men sitting on bar stools, one of them was getting the bartender to get him some additional drinks. Doesn't legend hold that bartenders also have information one would need? If so, now would be a good time to prove that theory.

Walking up to the bar counter, he holds his right hand in an apologetic manner as he passes by a man. That man stares at him for a few seconds before shaking his head, moving up towards a table. Not paying attention to him, he slides himself onto a nearby bar stool next to the bar counter. This bar stool was about the third of a line of ten. Six of these were occupied, two of which right next to Ballad. The two men next to Ballad stare at him for a few moments, and appear to slide their stools away from him. Ballad turns his head to them as they do this, though he doesn't object. He honestly didn't care if they didn't want to talk to him. He was pretty used to not talking to people. Most seemed to be assholes, anyway.

The bartender didn't seem to mind him so much, a trait that Ballad was thankful for. It at least ensured that he could get the info he needed.

"A new face! What can I do for'ya?" the bartender exclaims enthusiastically. He seemed to speak in a weird accent, similar to that of an old country farmer. The man was stocky, and he had a bushy mustache along his nose. The sleeves of his shirt were tucked inwards, and they were up to his elbows. His arms were pretty hairy themselves, giving Ballad the impression he was a part-time miner and certainly not a bartender. Damn, should've figured I'd find a fellow miner here.

Removing the scarf around his face, he says "Hi. Just wanted to ask, is this place normally this packed?" He remains seated, sliding his left hand slightly towards an unoccupied mug full of beer. Before he could touch it, however, the bartender placed his hand on his own. As Ballad looks up, the man frowns at him, quietly stating "Hope you plan on paying for that."

Ballad looks to his right, seeing some of the other men shooting glances at him. Honestly, he wasn't in any mood to be fighting at the moment. For starters, he still didn't know if those white soldiers were even from here, so the last thing he wanted was to be drawing attention to himself. Secondly, if he did start a fight, he had huge doubts the bartender will tell him shit.

Looking back towards the bartender, he quietly says "How much?" He hoped the bartender didn't toss him out of the bar when he needed his help.

"Five omnillium. Omni-pence, to be more specific," the bartender replied, his hand still grasping Ballad's.

Nodding, he raises his right hand, slowly releasing the amount of omnillium required. Handing it to the bartender, he stares at the rainbow colored orb, nodding before releasing his hold of Ballad. The men to Ballad's right slowly turn their glances away from him, though they had a look of worry on their faces, and for good reason. They had no idea how powerful this one was, so they wanted to exercise caution.

Sighing, Ballad grabs hold of the mug, saying "Anyways.. is this place normally packed?" as he brings the mug to his lips, taking a swig from the beer.

Gripping the omnillium orb in his hand, the bartender replies "Not normally. However, a special event is happening at The Colosseum. A tournament." Seeing Ballad stare at him, the bartender explains "Basically, it is an event where we witness grand battles there. Great entertainment value."

Ballad sets the mug down on the bar counter, some of the beer splashing out of the cup and onto the counter. He replies "And where is this.. Colosseum?"

"South of Minas Tirith. That's the mountain you probably saw on your way over here. Heading over there, on foot, will probably take you another two hours. Then from there, it would take another thirty minutes to reach the Colosseum. Damn good place, especially if you are watching the esteemed... Prime tournaments."

"Prime Tournaments?" Ballad said, slightly intrigued. He remembered that one of the soldiers called him a "Prime," so does that mean he was eligible? If so, he'll have to know what exactly he would be up against. Unless the bartender didn't know, in which case he'd feel disappointed. But hey, might as well try right?

"The grand events. The ones everyone all over the Omniverse wish to see. The sheer spectacle of two immortals fighting to see who was better," said the bartender, bringing his left hand to his lips before letting out a kiss, "is a sight to behold indeed."

"Interesting... thank you, sir. I'll... try to take note of that.." Ballad replies, taking one last gulp from his beer before sliding off of the bar stool. He looked to his right, seeing the other men were no longer giving him odd looks. Sighing, he wraps the red scarf around his mouth once more, exiting the bar.

After exiting the bar, Ballad walks towards a nearby building, leaning against it whilst the crowd walks past and enters shops. During this time, he proceeds to talk to himself, debating whether or not he should attend this... tournament.

"I don't see why not. A chance to show off, maybe. But I don't think that's a worthy cause to fight others for. Glory? I already have plenty of that. Than again, though, didn't the smiling guy say that if I looked for omnillium, I would find it? Is a reward for winning the tournament a lot of omnillium? If so, good god, that's not easy to pass up. Then again, though, if that was the case, how would Primes lose fights? They can't die, so how does one determine the winner? Through who falls on their knees first?!"

Ballad continues discussing with himself, like he was debating with a Church of Candlelight member about the existence of the wick. Eventually, he reached a conclusion.

"Alright.. there's only one real way to find out if fighting in the Colosseum is worth it. I'll go up, see who's participating, and go from there. If it looks too much to handle, I'll just watch from the stands."

Having made his decision, he leans off the building, and proceeds to head down the road, towards the mountain of Minas Tirith.